All still to play for | Opinion

Sam Barratt, head of youth, education and advocacy at the UN Environment Program and co-founder of the Games for the Planet Alliance, argues that the games industry has an important role to play in the climate agenda.

Solutions to complex and systemic crises often turn out to be “foreign”. But what if we in the gaming industry can do much more than we think?

If you're on this site, you already know that the number of people who play video games is large: three billion and counting. Combining these mega-numbers with the incentives associated with play, communication and active participation in solving problems through gameplay gives this industry an advantage that could allow it to surpass industries such as television, film or music when it comes to climate change education and action.

When Game for the planet launched in 2019, one of its goals was to make decarbonization and player engagement a “default” setting for the video game industry. He was inspired by those already moving forward with this agenda, such as Playmob's Jude Ower and Trista Patterson, who was working at GRID-Arendal at the time. Along with others, they co-founded Playing for the Planet.

Back in 2019, there was a lot of research into environmental topics in the industry, but it was scattered. Playing for the Planet has helped bring together a community that shares, learns and joins efforts to add environmental themes and reduce carbon emissions. The challenge was not simply to create a coalition, but to create a coalition that was ambitious and resilient to fluctuations in interests.

Recent game for the planet Green Games Summit has shown what games can do for nature in terms of education and leadership, with developers like Wooga and TreesPlease Games. receive awards for your work. But games can also have an impact on the real world through investments in restoration and preservation. The Green Game Jam resulted in millions of trees being planted and hundreds of millions of players being involved.

Backed by Science

Connecting the latest scientific advances with the video game industry so that they can accurately represent reality is a key bridge that playing for the planet builds. Sony Climate station does this well, bringing together over 100 years of IPCC climate data into a game that is accessible to millions of PlayStation players.

We are entering an era where the extreme weather events we feared for future generations are now a reality for us, and the world of gaming can help people visualize a future that is otherwise hard to imagine.

At the Green Games Summit, National Geographic Explorer Dr. Tom Matthews explained how Hurricane Melissa virtually scalped the Jamaican landscape. He explained that the recent snowfall at the top of the Himalayas broke all previous records at a depth of 22 feet, more than three times what was previously observed. His message was clear: what is about to happen will test our imagination. But if we can't anticipate and visualize what's coming, then it's harder to prepare—and that's where video games can help.

And now there's evidence that games can change that. Although most people in the gaming sector believe that video games have the ability to positively educate and activate players, there is little evidence on the ground to support such a claim with behavioral consequences. But new research presented at the Green Games Summit by behavioral scientists at Oxford University has opened the audience's eyes to what's possible.

Professor Stefania Innocenti has spent the last three years researching how games can actually change players' behaviour, particularly around food choices. Working with Media Molecule, its team developed four versions of the game to test how environmental and social messages influenced food choices, then measured the results using a simulated online supermarket used by more than 4,000 players. The results were striking: players exposed to the green versions of the game bought 20% more green items than those in the control group, without losing any interest in the game.

While the study highlights that anything that is too obvious and doesn't follow game mechanics carries the risk of community resistance, it offers compelling evidence that well-designed games can influence real-world decisions, enhancing their potential as powerful tools for change.

If not us, then who?

The gaming industry has experienced tremendous turbulence, with layoffs, studio closures, and an ever-increasing list of game cancellations. But despite all this, the commitment to creating a greener and cleaner industry has largely remained unchanged. It is also positive that other creative and cultural sector initiatives such as Music for the climate pact or Albert on television and film, people begin to communicate and exchange notes and ideas.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has promoted leadership in the gaming sector by trimming the field and drawing boundaries for other players. At Playing for the Planet, what we've seen over the past six years with around 60 games companies of all sizes is encouraging: the industry is willing to collaborate with others, adopting and building on their best practices.

“We may be able to create an affirmative action tipping point.”

Efforts such as the creation of sustainability toolkits and emissions-reducing green regimes for gaming platforms have helped move the entire industry forward. However, with AI and other technological innovations coming online, the industry's carbon intensity is likely to increase, so more energy efficiency measures are urgently needed.

But the positive news is that research is beginning to confirm that studios can mobilize their communities to play their part in preserving and preserving the planet. Together, we may be able to create a tipping point for positive action on this one planet we call home.

“Are we the people we've been waiting for?“- this phrase stuck in my mind after the Green Games summit. Because if not us, then who?